As a young pop-music fan and budding singer, the 16-year-old Chula Vista vocal sensation became an instant fan of the hit TV show “American Idol” when it debuted in 2002. But she never got to go to any of the subsequent “Idol” concert tour stops here, or anywhere else, until now.

Tonight, Sanchez will not only be present when the “American Idol Live 2012” tour comes to the all-ages Valley View Casino Center, she will be one of the top two featured performers. The tour, which kicked off early this month in Detroit, was preceded by a solid month of rehearsals.

“I’m ecstatic. I cannot wait!” said Jessica, who came in second to Phillip Phillips on “Idol” this season. “The set list for each show (on the tour) is pretty much the same, but I’ll try to make it as special as I can in San Diego.”

The tour, which began early this month in Detroit, travels across North America before concluding Sept. 21 in Manila. That’s an especially exciting prospect for Jessica. Her mother is Filipino-American and her grandparents flew here from the Philippines to cheer her on during the second half of her dizzying “Idol” adventure.

Then again, most of 2012 has been a whirlwind of excitement for Jessica, who this fall begins her senior year of home schooling (“Four hours a day,” she noted).

"This year has been crazy," she said. "Everything has happened so fast that I don't even have time to reminisce. Every moment has been amazing."

Her week-by-week ascent on “Idol” helped make this former tomboy a genuine American sweetheart with lots of girl-next-door appeal. Make that a girl-next-door with the poise, talent and jaw-dropping vocal chops to repeatedly wow some of the biggest pop stars in the land, including now-former “Idol” judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler.

The result? An international following, a deal with CAA (one of the most prestigious artist talent agencies in the world), a recording contract with Interscope (whose head, Jimmy Iovine, was this year’s music coach on “Idol”), the ongoing “Idol” tour — her first national concert trek — and an in-the-works debut album she hopes will be out in November.

“I want to be a role model for kids and show them that I’m not a goody-goody-two-shoes girl, but that I’m not a bad girl, either,” Jessica said from a recent tour stop in Salt Lake City. “I’m just a regular girl, following her dreams and I’m not going to let anybody change me.”

That sense of determination will come in handy as she completes her album and forges a solo career, post-”Idol.”

Too many gifted young artists have had their sound and creative vision diluted by record companies, producers, managers, image consultants and P.R. representatives, whose quest to help their clients become successful often leads to frustration and failure. The track record for “Idol” alums, no matter their vocal abilities, is littered with forgotten debut albums and stillborn careers.

“It’s my first album and I believe that, if it comes out and is going to be my album, it should be 100 percent me,” Jessica said. “I don’t think it should be changed by a producer and I don’t think my vision will be (diluted). We’re still picking out songs.”

Her vision for her music, incidentally, is different from the dramatic pop-ballad approach she was encouraged to pursue on “Idol.”

“My album will have more of an urban R&B feel,” she said. “A dance-music element is one key thing I need to have on my album; I don’t want it to be boring (slow) songs. ‘Idol’ was a competition and that led me to do more ballads, instead of songs that have more feel and soul. I want it to be perfect.”

The "American Idol" tour entails both bus and air travel. Going coast to coast can be grueling at any age, but Jessica is already adapting well to road life. (Since she is still only 16, her mother is traveling with her as a chaperone.)

"It's going amazingly well," Jessica said. "At first I thought I'd be exhausted, but my energy level is way up. Each city has its own story. On our days off, we like to see whats around and try different foods. It's like a vacation! Mostly, when I'm not sleeping on the tour bus, I'm eating. That's all I pretty much do on the bus, sleep or eat, or I'm on my computer."

An avowed fashionista, Jessica giggled when asked if she ever tries to disguise her appearance when she's being a tourist and exploring a new city.

"We went to the zoo on one of our days off -- I can't remember which city -- and I put my hair in a bun, wore sunglasses and tried to look so dressed down," she said.

Did dressing down work?

"Somewhat," she replied. "I went with (Top 10 'Idol' finalist) DeAndre (Brackensick, her new boyfriend), and his hair was hard for people to miss!"

Should her solo career take off as she hopes, post-"Idol," Jessica would like her parents and brother to move from Chula Vista to Los Angeles. Since coming in second on "Idol" in late May, she has only had time for one visit home.

"I had, like two days," she said. "I just spent time with my family and explored my neighborhood pretty much, because I used to walk around there all the time. People didn't know I was there, so me and my (two) brothers just walked around. It was so nice."